Clinical features and treatment outcomes of PD-1 inhibitor therapy in elderly patients (≥ 65 years) with advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: a real-world study

This study aims to determine the clinical features and outcomes of PD-1 inhibitor therapy as the initial treatment in patients aged 65 years or older with locally advanced or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The retrospective study conducted a comprehensive analysis of elder patients diagnosed with locally advanced or metastatic ESCC who underwent combined immunochemotherapy in the first affiliated hospital of Nanchang University from January 2019 to January 2023. The main efficacy measures were the objective response rate (ORR) and progression-free survival (PFS). The secondary endpoints were disease control rate (DCR) and overall survival (OS). The evaluation of safety was based on the assessment of adverse events (AEs). A total of 88 patients were enrolled in the study. All patients received PD-1 inhibitors combined with chemotherapy including taxane and platinum as the first-line treatment. The median PFS was 6.2 months (95